1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to image forming apparatuses, information processing apparatuses, information processing methods, information processing programs and storage media, and more particularly to an image forming apparatus such as a copying apparatus, a printer, a scanner, a facsimile apparatus, a composite apparatus and a multi-function peripheral, an information processing apparatus such as a personal computer, an information processing method, a computer-readable information processing program, and a computer-readable storage medium such as a Secure Digital (SD) memory card.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, composite apparatuses and multi-function peripherals, which have a copy function, a printer function, a scanner function and a facsimile function, have been reduced to practice and marketed. When the composite apparatus or the multi-function peripheral functions as a copying apparatus or a printer, images are printed on a printing medium such as paper. When the composite apparatus or the multi-function peripheral functions as a copying apparatus or a scanner, images are read from documents. In addition, when the composite apparatus or the multi-function peripheral functions as a facsimile apparatus, images are exchanged with another equipment via a telephone line.
The applicant is aware of a Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2002-84383.
Application programs (hereinafter simply referred to as an applications) that are implemented in the composite apparatuses or the multi-function peripherals were conventionally in C-language, but recently, there are composite apparatuses or multi-function peripherals that are implemented with applications in the Java (registered trademark) language. In addition, the applications in the Java language actually include various kinds of applications such as the Applet, Xlet, Servlet and JSP. For this reason, an application management mechanism, such as a platform, which manages these applications, is gradually becoming more and more complex. Because the complexity of the application management mechanism is undesirable both from the point of view of the equipment performance and from the point of view of the development efficiency, it is desirable to form the application management mechanism in an integrated or unified manner as much as possible.